to help us to understand and deconstruct capitalism in order to create a sustainable and peaceful social system.

We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Monday, February 22, 2016

Turkey is screwed. And it’s all US fault.

I don't know anything about this author, but he offers (in rather awkward English) an historical perspective on Turkey which adds much understanding to the government's seemingly crazy policies.

You might want to follow this up with an article from the Washington Post entitled "Turkey’s increasingly desperate predicament poses real dangers". This newspaper is an important mouthpiece of Empire directors which gives clues to their foreign policy intentions. Because such articles serve to camouflage their imperial policies with propaganda giving legitimacy and credibility to such policies, one needs to de-code them (always risky intellectual business).The author expresses the Empire's disapproval of Turkish President Erdogan's military actions against the Syrian Kurds and his (and those of the Saudis) threats of military invasion of the country. In addition the author's seems to suggest in the following paragraph that the Empire wants to stabilize and withdraw from the chaotic situation that it previously encouraged and supported:

Turkey’s predicament is not entirely self-inflicted. Some of the broader global trends — such as Russia’s increasing assertiveness and the United States’ waning interest in the Middle East — could not readily have been foreseen when Turkey set about crafting its ambitious foreign policy earlier in the decade, analysts say. [my emphasis]